Trimming beef brisket

[TooTallTom]

I bought a beef brisket tonight to smoke tomorrow. It wass about 8.5 pounds before I trimmed about 2 pounds (maybe three) of fat off. Is this close to the normal amount of trim to meat? Did I get unlucky with this brisket?

Reading about the smoked eggs has me thinking some more about what I'm going to load up in the smoker...

Thanks for the replies/ ideas.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I'm no expert, but I've never trimmed fat from brisket until after it's smoked. 2 pounds seems like a lot.

[itchmesir]

I trim brisket almost daily.. we use a lot of it at work.. 2lbs.. seems a little over estimated.. but the fat cap can be pretty big on brisket sometimes..

btw you should've trimmed the fat after you cooked it.. gives the meat flavor and keeps it from drying out.. brisket can easily dry out

[reinhard1]

Briskets like most pieces of meat do not come uniform and the same as far as fat. the "point" has most of the fat. seems a little much on a 8 pound piece but it is possible. would have been a good idea to leave the fat on before smoking as others have said.

brisket is cut from the tough underside of the animal. this part is full of fat and collagen. collagen is a fibrous protein that connects tissues together. as collagen cooks it turns into a gelatin and dissolves into the meat. so this is what makes brisket tastes so good along with internal marbling which plays just as an important role as the "fat cap".

as far as trimming the fat i would leave at least an inch on the top. you will also have a line of fat running down the middle. leave it there. look, if possible, for internal fat or marbling. what you got is probably what we used to call an untrimmed brisket or "packers cut". some places do sell just the flat cut, but are more expensive and leaner. if leaner then it needs to be marinades in some acid based marinade in my opinion, such as containing lemon juice, lime juice, vinegar or any other acid based marinade. this will help break down the tough fibers.

there are a few great brisket threads on this forum, so just scroll down and you can pick up some great tips from the guy's on here. good luck.

[thirdeye]

That's on the high end of acceptable trimming. I know it's hard to see into the cryo sometimes, so I'll often try to pick limber ones, and ones that don't taper to nothing on the rear end.... then deal with the fat later. You never can tell how thick the fat between the point and flat can be, I often cut a triangular wedge out of that area. If the fat is off white or looks spongy, I trim that.

For thickness, It's kind of "pit dependant" on how much fat trimming I do. Fat is good insulation from the heat and in my drums I leave more on the outside face.

In my Egg I will trim them closer, about like these.

[jmd1]

I worked in an excel packing plant on the brisket table. we trimmed to 1/8 inch on the outside edge. meaning we would take off a top layer and taper it to 1/8 inch on the outer edge. It is kind of a guess as to how much you really take off but when i smoke them, i use an acid marinade with a bit of olive oil. I never trim much off as it is easier to trim when cooked. I have cooked them several ways, dutch style, with apple juice, or just smoking them. They are pretty universal and dependent on low and slow cooking. Good luck, i am making Tbones with sliced potatoes straight from the field.

[TooTallTom]

Thanks for the replies, all. It was more fat than I expected to see, but like I said I don't have enough experience trimming brisket to know for sure. But there was about a 3/4-inch-thick layer along half the bottom side, with it being thicker onto that edge.

I did leave on some fat (I'm a believer in fat = flavor.) but decided I wanted to get as much smoke into the muscle as possible so I trimmed pretty agressively.

It ended up being a good first go-round, though we took it off a bit too soon as it was getting late and we were getting hungry. So, just a bit tough, but nothing a thin slicing job with a good, sharp, knife couldn't handle.